Thursday, October 3, 2013

CA - Restricted Group Speaks Up, Saying Sex Crime Measures Go Too Far

LOS ANGELES - Larry Neely looked out across the expanse of an airport hotel conference room that usually holds conventions of labor unions, political groups or business executives.

On this day, though, the chairs were filled with dozens of people who, like Mr. Neely have had to register as sex offenders.

Mr. Neely who pleaded guilty to multiple counts of sexual indecency with a child dating to 2003, said that at first, “I was terrified; I was hiding, hoping to stay under the radar.”

Across the room, men in the crowd nodded.

As local and state governments have imposed tough penalties for sex crimes in recent years, including restrictions on where sex offenders can live or even set foot, members of this highly stigmatized group have begun to fight back.

They and others have formed associations and are holding conferences like this one to argue that a wave of legal penalties and restrictions washing across the country has gone too far. They hope to convince judges, lawmakers and the public that indiscriminate laws aimed at all sex offenders are unconstitutional and ineffective.

Over the last few years, Mr. Neely has overcome his fear and taken on a decidedly public role: He has become an advocate for sex offenders’ rights. At the conference, he urged others to speak up.

“Your fears are really rational,” Mr. Neely said. “But if you don’t fight, you will lose.”

It is no easy sell, though.

A patchwork of laws that have gained favor since the mid-’90s, popular with lawmakers and voters alike, bar convicted sex offenders from a large and growing array of public spaces. In California, as in many other states, sex offenders cannot live within 2,000 feet of a school, park or playground, and last year, a number of cities in Orange County forbade them to enter public parks and beaches.

A decade ago, the Supreme Court upheld the practice of posting the names, photographs and addresses of sex offenders online, and now many states maintain web sites with that information. Janice Bellucci, a lawyer with Reform Sex Offender Laws, sponsor of the conference here for the last five years, ran through a list of challenges to other laws that had been shot down in courts across the country.

“I wish I had good news to report, but I don’t,” she told those present. “We’ve got to overturn this Supreme Court decision, because it’s harming you all every day.”

Victims’ rights advocates expressed outrage at the notion of a convention to promote the rights of sex offenders.

“I find it very offensive that registered sex offenders are trying to defeat the measures we have put in place to protect children,” said Nina Salarno Ashford, a lawyer with Crime Victims United. “They created their own issues. In trying to find sympathy, they’re forgetting that somebody was assaulted, in many cases a child.”

There are plenty of reasons sex offenders decline to speak publicly. Many have struggled to find work or a place to live since their convictions, and worry that neighbors will try to force them out if they learn of their criminal history. In the halls between workshops here, conference attendees discussed vigilantes who targeted and occasionally killed sex offenders.

Still, with more than 700,000 people now on sex offender registries across the country — close to the population of Alaska — the ranks of those willing to speak out are growing, albeit slowly.

“A lot of us are doing what we are supposed to do,” Jason Shelton said. Since serving four years after a sexual encounter with a 14-year-old girl when he was 29, Mr. Shelton has married and finished an associate degree at a community college. He has been unable to find work because of his record, he said, and he and his wife now live with her mother.

At the conference, he resolved to speak publicly about the challenges he faced.

“I don’t want to bother anyone else,” he said. “All I want is a job.”

Kathy Crawford, whose son is in federal prison for downloading child pornography, said she planned to testify before the Indiana legislature on her son’s behalf. Others who had done so warned her not to expect to sway any lawmakers. Change, they said, would be incremental.

“It’s hard for me to say, ‘This is what my son’s offense was,’ ” said Ms. Crawford, 59, who was visibly uncomfortable discussing her son’s case. She refused to give his name and referred to child pornography as “C.P.” “But I have to do everything I can so that when he finishes paying his debt, he can be done.”

Her discomfort was shared by many at the conference, highlighting the challenge of advocating for people who have committed crimes some consider akin to murder.

Instead of focusing on their own stories, many referred to recent studies, like a four-state survey paid for in part by the Justice Department that found that the recidivism rate among sex offenders was about 5 percent within five years of being released from custody. They also point to laws restricting where registered sex offenders can live, saying they have, in some cases, proved counterproductive, forcing many to move out of their family homes and turn to homelessness, making them more likely to commit another offense.

Prosecutors, however, remain dubious.

“We recognize that there is some argument that these laws don’t work, the residency restrictions, but I think the jury is still out; I think they’re good laws,” said Susan Kang Schroeder, the spokeswoman for the Orange County district attorney, Tony Rackauckas, who last year spearheaded the campaign to ban registered sex offenders from public beaches and parks.

“The pro-sex-offender lobby likes to bandy about percentages, as if even 1 percent is acceptable,” Ms. Schroeder said in an interview last year.

But in November, a state appeals court struck down the Orange County law. And last week, after the group Reform Sex Offender Laws sued, the City of Cypress, in Orange County, repealed a law requiring registered sex offenders to post signs on their front doors on Halloween.

4 comments
:

NJ45143112
said...

I found it quite hard to read this article but when I also saw it posted on the New York Times, I gave it a look...Frankly, I'm not sure that I would have chosen somebody with a "hands on" offense as an advocate. I realize that we all make mistakes and most deserve a second chance after the hell of the judicial system but this is the last person that any lawmaker would want to hear from...Add to that, those of us who did not have a hands on offense and, in actuality, never affected another person (at least not measurably) through our offense are scarred by the actions of individuals like this one. As evidenced by the statement from the OC mouthpiece for Tony Rackaukus (a purely self-serving twit with a bad haircut), all sex offenders are considered to be molesters. It's simply not possible for lawmakers to consider all 700,000 offenders as individuals!Do they have families? Who cares...Do they have jobs? Who cares...Did they have a criminal record prior to the "offense?" Who cares...Everything is tailored to the presumption that all "sex" crimes are crimes of violence and could potentially harm another. In this case, it's always assumed that a child is being victimized...It never occurs to them that their laws affect the children of offenders as well as extended family...It never occurs them that their laws incarcerate children as well as adults for the same offenses....It never occurs to them that children who are arrested are engaging in acts that they may have done similarly when they were kids...Saving one child at the cost of genocide is no victory!OK, maybe that's a bit overboard but more lives are being destroyed everyday than the monsters that lawmakers are creating to keep their jobs...In any case, I thank God for Janice Belucci and her efforts. She is a messenger that cannot be ignored since her heart and the law speak for themselves. She has no past to hide from and a string of victories to brandish as weapons...Get behind me, Satan! Here comes Janice!

While I have little to no respect for the mouthpieces speaking for bureaucrats, one thing that was said rings true: what about the children that were hurt?Granted, in most cases the "sex offender" never touched no affected any other person other than himself. And, in many cases, those that did interact with another never harmed them since they consented to the act (even if the law desperately needs to designate a victim to operate)...It's one thing to respect the man for speaking out but it's another when you consider that few will take him seriously due to his offense...Yes, the laws and restrictions go way to far and the scope of law enforcement is expanded to the breaking point. When children are being labeled as sex offenders, then the hypocrisy of the system becomes evident and the system breaks down. Sooner or later, the whole house of cards will collapse...In the meantime, advocates should consider their position and what they are doing to hurt or help the cause...For his family and the sake of families hurt all across the country by the machinations of politicians, I hope that he and others like him do some good...